


The Chinese Room

by UntramenTaro



Series: Doll Eyes [2]
Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Gen, ice mountain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 18:23:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5015308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UntramenTaro/pseuds/UntramenTaro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tohma and Kiyoteru talk about a psychological experiment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Chinese Room

In the teacher’s lounge Kiyoteru was busily scrawling things on paper, god knows what he’s doing but he keeps himself busy.

“Hey Kiyoteru?”

“Yes Tohma-senpai?” he answered without turning from his desk.

I leaned on one of the adjacent desks, and scratched at the stubble on my chin. “So… have you ever heard of the Chinese Room?”

“Chinese room?” He swiveled in his chair to face me, his voice filled with intrigue. “What’s that? Is that some Chinese restaurant around here?”

“Ah, no no no. It’s a thought experiment by… John… John Something-or-other. I can’t remember. But that’s beside the point. The Chinese room is a thought experiment about AI and consciousness.”

“Never heard of it before. But go on,” he motioned, “I’m listening.”

I smirked before continuing, “in the Chinese room… say, you were trapped in a room with a bookshelf full of books and a pencil, and nothing else noteworthy aside from a slit in the wall.

"From the slit comes a slip of paper written completely in Chinese. You don’t understand a lick of Chinese so you have no idea what it says. But as you search around, you find the bookshelf has a Chinese phrasebook that says various Chinese phrases and how to respond to them. You still don’t know what any of it says, however, as everything is in Chinese without any translation to a language you know. All you know is that this particular string of symbols should be used respond with this one, and so on and so forth.”

“Ah, so… what exactly do I do while trapped in this room then?” he asked with his eyebrow raised tentatively.

“You take the slip of paper with the Chinese on it, and scrawl down the appropriate response in Chinese that the book provided.”

“Huh.”

“Huh indeed. So you decide to take the reply and slip it back through the slit. Later, another slip of paper comes in, once again written completely in Chinese. So you search through the phrasebook, scrawl down the appropriate response, and send it straight back. This continues on for a while.”

“Is that all I do while stuck in this room?”

“Be patient, kohai.”

“Sorry.”

“So on the outside of this room is a Chinese man. He writes you notes asking how you are doing, and continues to send you queries through the slit in the wall. He receives your responses and reads them.  
‘How are you today?’   
'I’m doing well.’   
'What kind of food do you like?’   
'Twice cooked pork is my favorite.’   
'My wife cooks wonderful twice cooked pork. If you come out, would you like to try some?’   
'Yes that would be fantastic.’   
Your responses are coherent and he concludes that inside the room is another man who understands Chinese. But do you understand Chinese?”

“I… I don’t…?”

“You see, you’re generating responses without particularly understanding them, and the other party accepts them as correct responses and concludes that you understand what you have said. This 'Chinese Room’ you are trapped in is basically a machine and you are the AI. As long as you put out the appropriate response, people will think you are intelligent and understand. But does an AI really understand what you are saying?”

“Ah. I see. So that’s what the Chinese Room is. But… why do you bring this up, Tohma-senpai?”

I chuckled. “Don’t you think we’re kind of like 'Chinese Rooms’ too?”

He furrowed his brow. “Pardon?" 

"Let’s take those students you are teaching. You give them a test and they pass. Yay! Gold star. But do they  _really_  understand what you have taught them? Or are they just regurgitating the correct responses that you taught the earlier? After all, a kid can memorize a simple fact but not know why it is true.”

“Tohma-senpai!” he frowned. “I don’t think you’re giving these children enough credit. I’m sure they understand! I  _know_  they understand!”

“Do you really?”

“Oh please, come on, Tohma-senpai. You can’t be serious about this sort of thing are you? About us and the children being 'Chinese Rooms’ and not understanding?”

“Hey. Just some food for thought, kohai. Makes you kind of hungry for some Chinese food though, doesn’t it? Twice cooked pork in particular.”

“Please don’t joke…”

“Did I upset you?”

“Er… I guess I did get a little worked up.”

“No worries. How about I treat you out for some Chinese food?”

“… Fine.”

We shared a laugh and headed out for some food.


End file.
